I dislike Giant for no good reason. I was climbing up a local backcountry trail with my wife when all of a sudden we get descended upon by a group of maniacs in all Giant riding gear. They don’t slow down, obviously don’t yield, and basically run us both off the trail and into the bushes. I help my now bleeding wife (stick in lower back)up the side back to the trail, regroup, and start climbing again. 20 minutes later here comes the freight trail coming right at is again, barreling down the trail. Same stuff exactly….no yield, no slow down, just bombing like they own the trail(obviously no care about climbers). My wife gets her bar clipped and comes off bike. I’m pissed, she’s upset, and hooting and hollering they just disappear. We get to the top and come back down and there is the Giant Team shuttle van at the bottom. Glad I’m not the type of person to mess with someone’s stuff but Now I don’t like Giant.

oh…and Foxes loathing gear always just disintegrates the first time I use it so they suck too!

 

Pratt and Witney. Their motors for the F-14 sucked!

 

Oh is F-14 a new model of ebike? Are Pratt and Whitney motor not good like Bosch?

 

Scott for using Torx bolts in every size known to man on one bike. Stick with Allen. Maybe T25 for the rare occasion that you have to, which I can't think of (none of my other bikes have torx outside the rotors).

 

In agree with this 100%. They are a better marketing company than a bike company. They don’t make anything that can’t be found somewhere else.

Also Giant. They make the most boring products in the industry They try to make themselves look like an American company. I even know a bike shop that tells customers they are in American company.

 

Also Giant. They make the most boring products in the industry They try to make themselves look like an American company. I even know a bike shop that tells customers they are in American company.

From my perspective the classic company that tried to come across as American is Maxxis, aka, Cheng Shin.

 

Every time I see people complain that Trek and Specialized are evil because they are big companies I have to laugh. I have owned both in the past. When I cracked a frame, I got quick service. When I broke my Knolly 3 times (their design flaw, not my riding) they became increasingly difficult to deal with and took a long time to get replacements to me. Sold the bike because it ended up spending more time taken apart than being ridden.

My current Orbea was great, but any time you need a proprietary part, like a pivot axle, you're dealing with a manufacturer in a different country and our country has idiotically decided to make all imports more difficult, so I end up waiting forever to get parts.

The next bike I buy will probably be a Santa Cruz. Large enough to have the volume to get replacement/warranty parts, and still "small" enough to have interesting bikes.

If Orbea were a US company I'd be a customer for life, but they scaled back their dealer presence and dealing with Spain is too much of a hassle.

Shout out to Vassago. I broke their steel frame and Tom really took care of me, first class operation. Small company but a great experience.

But for me, bigger is better, because I ride every day. Waiting 3-4 weeks on parts might mean some people miss 6 or 7 rides, but for me that could be almost 30 missed rides.

 

Every time I see people complain that Trek and Specialized are evil because they are big companies I have to laugh. I have owned both in the past. When I cracked a frame, I got quick service. When I broke my Knolly 3 times (their design flaw, not my riding) they became increasingly difficult to deal with and took a long time to get replacements to me. Sold the bike because it ended up spending more time taken apart than being ridden.

My current Orbea was great, but any time you need a proprietary part, like a pivot axle, you're dealing with a manufacturer in a different country and our country has idiotically decided to make all imports more difficult, so I end up waiting forever to get parts.

The next bike I buy will probably be a Santa Cruz. Large enough to have the volume to get replacement/warranty parts, and still "small" enough to have interesting bikes.

If Orbea were a US company I'd be a customer for life, but they scaled back their dealer presence and dealing with Spain is too much of a hassle.

Shout out to Vassago. I broke their steel frame and Tom really took care of me, first class operation. Small company but a great experience.

But for me, bigger is better, because I ride every day. Waiting 3-4 weeks on parts might mean some people miss 6 or 7 rides, but for me that could be almost 30 missed rides.

Do some research regarding the business practices of the big S. It’s astonishing.

 

Wolf Tooth, because they have great colors and excellent industrial design, but cover everything in logos to the point they're ugly.

 

I've passed on Wolf Tooth a couple times due to their excessive logos. It's a shame since I've been very happy with the things I have bought.

 

Does bikesdirect count?

Never used their stuff, but their website has irked me since it was built in the 80s

 

Continental tires. The new tires are all released with a flood of marketing and reviews, but check into it and they’re mostly all made in China now. That’s fine I guess—the way of the world, but I expect the price to reflect low-cost-country manufacturing, instead of the near top-of-the-market prices they charge for their tires.

It’s all marketing BS.

 

Cannondale, for producing the stupidity commonly known as the Lefty.

 

The Lefty? I have a beef with Cannondale over their lack of support for the Fatty SL. The headset cable routing on the Scalpel reinforces my beef.

 

Yeah, specialized doesn't float My boat.

They are the Toyota for mtbs at Ferrari prices.

Kona meh,

Merida, traditionally terrible, but they are getting better as the years go on

 

They are the Toyota for mtbs at Ferrari prices.

They are not Toyota and their prices are not Ferrari.

In the last few years Specialized was the yardstick bikes are measured by. Especially Levo and SJ Evo. Basically the industry lined up with them. Even small stuff like frame storage.

Realistically they cost a little bit more than comparable builds when they are not on sale, that's it. Sales are plentiful.

 

And just to prove the point a bit more.

Absolute bullshit.

$26.5 for a road bike? $25k for an xc bike.

 

What brand do I have a pointless beef with?

Myself.

My brand "PuddleDuck", what sort of a stupid name is that? If I insist on using a poncy bird like a duck, instead of an interesting bird such as a raptor, or a spotted dick...at least come up with a more challenging location than a bloody puddle...Like WaterfallPeekingDuck. That's a better username....it's got some voyeurism and a play on words of th dish Peaking Duck. Thumbs up for that one, duck head.

To my attitude & behavious. I'm inconsistent, sometimes difficult & short tempered. I'm judgemental, and prejudiced. And that's on a good day.

I am the brand that I have a pointless beef with.

 

To go in the other direction a bit, I want to give Pivot props for replacing a rear triangle on my almost-new Pivot Mach 4 under warranty, and quickly.

 

I could be wrong, but I'd guess Spesh probably sells the most of Comp level bikes.

Carbon Stumpy 15 Comp, $4999 MSRP on sale for $3999 right now. The S-Works of any model is insanely expensive for no real world benefit IMO.

 

I don't like Specialized but S-works is a specific fancy frame. It's like how Toyota has Lexus, if you want to pay more for a little more luxury model. I wouldn't compare that to other high-end MTBs because those high-end MTBs often don't have any lower grade frames. Also, I think their low end builds suck too for the record. Their mid-range is their best value.

 

Here's a frame only for Plum's beloved Crestline vs the outrageously priced bike he posted...
In USD so will be worse in NZD

 

I think that kind of makes his point though, Cresline is a limited availability boutique bike and a Specialized, even an S-Works, is not a limited availability boutique bike for more money.

 

After owning a Pole I think I'd be leaning more towards something mainstream. But again, Plums calling the kettle black, posts up expensive e-bike, but the brand he rides makes one almost the same price.
But again, I pay full retail for my bikes so I've got to go with what I can afford. I don't own S-Works anything!

 

The Pro level Specialized bikes are the proper comparison, the S-Works in most frames is nothing more than decals and a carbon rocker link, nothing else for a LOT more money.